Monthly Archive July 2018

Operation Red Wings, it is the story where the movie Lone Survivor came from. The anniversary was on June 28th but due to the way the schedule worked out, today was the day we honored those that were lost.

The call went out for everyone to bring a ruck/backpack with some kind of weight in it. Not being sure who would bring them I planned for the worst and hoped for the best.

I got there early to set out the stations and along with them, printed out info sheets on some of the 19 that were lost that day as part of ORW.

To my happy surprise we had a ruck for everyone, some with ruck plates, some with bricks etc. Very quick disclaimer since we had all regulars and into…

I went into a quick history of ORW/Lone Survivor and explained that to honor those lost we will ruck the entire workout (modify as needed of course). Special Forces can often have about 70lbs that they carry as part of missions so while we won’t carry that much we will all be carrying extra weight. Also a strong theme in the military, Lone Survivor and F3 is no man left behind, it’s a brother hood so we will partner up and the partners stay together the entire time.

At each station I left an info sheet about some of those lost that day. You are to take 30 seconds or so to read that before beginning the exercise to appreciate and remember those that sacrificed everything.
Everyone RUCK UP! The stations were:

Quick ruck “shuffle” out to the track and back (.10 mile) , you are the timer.

15 Supine Pull ups/ 15 squats (w/ ruck on of course) continue alternating until the track ruckers are back

“Sandbag Mile” with ruck on, pick up the sandbag, squat, throw it, walk up to it and repeato about 25 yards out and back

Merkins w/ ruck

Kettlebell bear crawl w/ruck about 30 yards out and back

We rotated through this for about 35 minutes

5MOMFlutter press w/ ruck
Back Scratchers
LBCs

DONE!

Ye Olde Moleskine

I was happy to see most brought a ruck and since a couple of us had extra everyone was good to go. Most of us had ruckplates, bricks etc. but the creativity award goes to Woody who had a ruck full of bullet casings! #TClaps

Smaller group today but once we get going numbers don’t matter and it was great to have The Late Show back out in the Gloom! #Kotters

Wearing the ruck really changes up the workout and most would probably agree but I thought it would be a good change of pace and for an great reason. Always an honor to lead, and we need more Qs so step up and take the lead, we need you!

What We Did
Mosey to the base of Blue Ridge and gather for instructions on the quadruple triple nickel (originally a triple triple, but these guys were too darn fast)

Triple Nickel

5 squats at the bottom of the hill, run up

5 hand release merkins at the top, back down

Do this 5 times

The Hills (complete entire triple nickel on one hill before moving to the next)

Blue Ridge Circle up to the flag

Dark corner of Mountain View up towards the yucca, hang a right at the Old Bell cul-de-sac up to the peak

From Sardis & Wilby up Wilby to where the road bends hard right

Back to the dark corner of Mountain View, but up the other way to the flag

Pledge of Allegiance and mosey home

What We Did Not Do

Complain

Quit

Mail it in

Understand the directions the first time (ok, this was only Purell)

NMM

I love Horsey. I know it well enough to not go too often (probably not often enough), but I still love it. Not many places a Q can give 30 seconds of instructions, telling you to do a god awful, monotonous thing over and over again for an hour, and have it actually be done the whole time (excluding the infamous Bratwurst fiasco of 2017*).

As an F3 guy, my M and 2.0s are, to their great delight, treated to an abundance of F3 talk throughout the week. They’ve heard about the mysterious Horsey and expressed opinions other than “love” for it when I mentioned on Sunday night that I was Qing.

Tenleigh (aka Savannah Smile), age 6, isn’t buying it: “It doesn’t sound like a real place. I think you are just joking again but I hope you don’t get scared by the panty man.” Coincidentally, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t believe in Santa either and is just keeping her mouth shut to keep her present count up. #smartLittleCookie

Taelyn (aka Pele, formerly Swordfish), age 10, will believe in Santa and unicorns until she’s in college just because she wants to. Not looking forward to her dating years when I have to remind her that even Prince Charming thought with his weinke when he was a teenager. She’s in a Shel Silverstein phase and thought this place worthy of a poem she brought me later and made me promise to share:

The morning is darkChester’s cigarette makes a sparkHe’s in his underwearAs if he doesn’t careWe run away and try not to stareThe horsey hills are really steepWhy didn’t I stay home and sleep?I see green lights! Up ahead!I feel like I am almost deadWe say the pledge under the starsThen we head to our carsWow, that was a hard climbOh well, I’ll see you next time

And Jocelyn, age undisclosed, called it like it is and said as only a loving wife can: “You are an idiot. I seriously don’t understand why any of you would want to do that.”

Fair enough, nail on the head. It’s dumb, we all know it. It hurts. We hurt. It’s a dark little hole of suck we (some more often than others) knowingly climb inside on Monday morning. I could ramble on about how giving everything you got up towards the yucca and then realizing you had to dig for more as you turn right to head up the cul-de-sac is preparing us for when the real sh*t hits the fan. But, if you’re coming to Horsey, you’ve been around F3 long enough to have heard (and hopefully know) all of that. For me, I mostly just have a good time getting out there with a bunch of like-minded idiots to hurt for a while. And, feeling like a badass when I have to stumble down the stairs for the next 48 hours. In the end, it’s better to be a guy who has come to Horsey at least once, than to be a guy who hasn’t.

Too many faces to name names. You all kicked as$ and I didn’t see one man quit. Thanks to Spooky Jon for letting me run the show for a day, and thanks to all of you for coming out and climbing in the hole with me this morning.

* For the record, YHC was one of the few who stuck with Brat and actually enjoyed the pain of that workout quite a bit. Albeit, I had a headlamp and did not pull a Tweetsie, so I may be biased.

YHC sent Hannibal, the scheduled 7/23 Base Camp Q, an email Sunday morning to confirm his Q make sure he didn’t forget he had volunteered to Q Base Camp the next day. Hannibal’s response:

“Yes, sir. I’m not a big tweeter, so fee free to put anything out there that you might want.”

Eh, no need. Hannibal is sure to draw a crowd. 8 pax showed up by 5:30 this morning. Hannibal was not one of them. Ooooooookay. Who wants to share a Q? Fireman Ed volunteers and was accepted. Probably should have waited for someone else to volunteer. Ed promised upper body, so YHC decides to give the pax some time on their feet.

The Impromptu Thang:

Mosey a lap around the parking lot to see if Hannibal is just running a bit late. No dice. Head south on Strawberry. 15 merkins at each of the first three speed bumps. This was apparently not “moderate enough” for Gummy. Circle up for a quick COP in the middle of the street (that was smart):

Mosey over to Fairway Downs Ct., a very under-utilized cul-de-sac with a gradual incline, for a triple nickel. 5 HR merkins at top, 5 werkins at the bottom, 5X. The pax started dropping like flies during this. Thumper did something to his leg. He tried to run it out, but couldn’t, so he called it a morning and bolted. Hammer got called on a code brown from behind, and headed back to SCMS. We headed back with a 200m AYG up Strawberry and YHC turned it over to Fireman Ed in the parking lot.

Ed’s Tomfoolery:

Mosey to the ball fields to see how many pax can get bitten by red ants this morning. 2 rounds of utter stupidity Planker’s Delight. Mosey to the benches for 20 step-ups, 20 supine pull-ups, and 20 dips x 2. For those that didn’t get bit the first time, mosey to the other ballfield for 2 rounds of Tunnel of Love. We followed that up with Ed’s go-to, Jack Webb. Started 1 merkin/4 arm presses and got up to 6/24.

Mosey up to Gloss’ office for some People’s Chair while holding arms straight out. About 3-4 minutes of this with a short break in between. That hurt. Done.

Moleskine

We covered about 2.3 miles, but pax got a good dose of both lower and upper body. Ed eloquently stated the title of this BB at COT. We probably should have spent more time praying for his soul.

Hammer was leading the pax on the triple nickel before he had the runs to run. Can’t imagine how much faster he would have been AFTER dropping the kids off.

Gummy and Ed were having a leisurely conversation during the run. Gummy was trying to make it as moderate as possible. You vs. you, bro. The two of them may have been circle-jerking each other over Clemson’s 2018 defensive line, but who knows?

Thumper – hope you’re okay, brother.

Great to see Young Love out at BC again. You should come more often!

For once on a Sunday, the Yankees didn’t play the featured night game (they were scheduled, but it was a rainout), so Steinbrenner was able to make it to BC. The higher-ups over at ESPN don’t think the Yankees and Royals are worthy of a Sunday featurette this coming Sunday, so we’ll look forward to seeing you again on 7/30.

Thunder Road – the mastermind behind the Planker’s Delight: you deserve to be publicly flogged every time it’s performed. It’s horrible. Keep your sadistic crap to yourself next time (or, at least, when YHC isn’t present).

Apology for the delay in the BB – partly due to recovering from the workout coupled with YHC just forgot over the weekend.

13 MEN decided to start off the weekend right this comfortable friday AM

Disclaimer was given while Shoe took his time getting out the car to join the pax

Off we go – to Tartarus: The Region of Torments – and it would live up to its name.

YHC was out of town for work most of the week so needed something to get things back going in the right direction – the result was the yet to be named below workout.

Starting at the bottom entrance, YHC led pax thru one lap of the torments to show all where and what was expected, then it was OYO – as many laps as possible until 6:10.

AYG up the long ramp – 5 hand release burpees at the top

AYG along the flats to the other end – 10 diamond merkins

AYG up the short ramp and across the top to the far back stairwell – 10 heels to heaven

Down the stairwell – AYG to the middle stairwell – up the stairwell – 10 CDDs

AYG to next stairwell and down and back to the start – 10 Jump squats

One lap complete – task was to complete as many as possible by 6:10

Some pax ended at 6:10 and some flutters and Freddie Mercury’s were had while waiting a few who decided to ignore the 6:10 end time.

Fast mosey back to launch

Finished

NMM

Yes YHC took the easy way out, no cadence, no COP, just got right to work. Bu that said, it still sucked and was tough. Great work by everyone , think the group made 6 laps for most if not all – that was a lot of work. And there was no air movement in the deck so the air was pretty thick adding to the fun.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead this great group of men thru the Gloom this am.

Champagne Out

Announcements:

BRR is right around the corner – first weekend in Sept and teams are in need of runners – if interested post it out on slack.

YHC thinks another announcement was made but the recorder missed it – shout out below.

26 Pax including a Briarcrest FNG came out to see what the Scavenger hunt was all about. The wining team was Foundation, Rockwell, Brexit, and Old McDonald. Apparently age and wisdom trumped young and fast at today’s hunt. (I cant figure out how to post pictures in the BB so I will post on GroupMe). While some might say they mis-counted reps, I for one think they only cheated slightly more than the rest of the groups. Good work today guys.

My attempt today was to give us a good workout, while adding some competition to it, and a little bit of trivia. About halfway through I realized there was more running involved than I had planned for….or maybe that’s because my group chose the wrong answers and had to run more. Win or lose today, I hope everyone had a good time and enjoyed the change of pace. Thanks for Foundation to allow me to lead today. His leadership last Monday with Ultimate Frisbee is what gave me the idea to try something new.

Also, welcome to our new FNG Dancing Bear. Mark Shaffer is president of the Waxhaw Soccer league and has been involved in soccer his whole life. Halfway through telling us all about soccer, I noticed he had a grateful dead teddy bear kicking a soccer ball….dancing bear it is! I especially enjoy the hell that Beckham gives Dancing Bear on Facebook with regards to soccer. I’ve finally found someone (Beckham) who hates soccer more than I do (sorry Dancing Bear).

The Scavenger hunt is posted below.

F3 Scavenger Hunt

Rules

As soon as you are handed this paper the scavenger hunt begins. Please read through the rules and then turn to page 2 to view your first clue titled Clue # 1.

Because it would be too difficult and time consuming to place clues at various spots around campus, all your clues are contained in this document. While it would be pretty simple to cheat…..don’t. Don’t look ahead for correct answers, play the game fairly. Ultimately, we are here to get a good workout and cheating defeats that purpose.

Other teams will be traveling the same path as you along the way. I suggest keeping your answers a secret so you don’t give away correct answers to other teams (or perhaps you can intentionally shout out wrong answers?). There are questions to be answered along the way that if answered incorrectly, will take you on further or harder routes. Just because you see a team in front of you going a different way, it doesn’t mean they are right.

Phones, especially google, are not allowed.

No matter where you are, when it gets to 6:10 please stop what you are doing and return to the starting parking lot. I’m attempting to put together a scavenger hunt having no clue how long it will truly take. I’ve made it longer than likely we can finish so the winning team will be the one who is at the furthest clue as of 6:10.

Because I developed the scavenger, I will not be allowed to answer or help any teams. I will be traveling with a team but only to get a workout. Because most people skim directions and don’t completely read them, I am putting in this extra sentence that negates the start below. Look at the very last page for an easier start than the one on the next page.

START

Clue # 1

In order to start the scavenger hunt, your team must do a combined number of Merkins that equal the following riddle:

The number is 50 more than 100 times 5 minus 300.

Once you have completed the proper number of Merkins, please proceed to the place where Transporter prefers to squat. Stop at each light pole for 20 Aussie burpees (no push up) per team (not each) on the way there.

Clue # 2 – Transporter’s Shed

Once you have made it to Transporter’s shed, please answer as a team this question. The answer will direct you to an exercise and then your next location.

Which of the following movie character names is not a named Star in the night sky?

Beetle Juice – Do 10 each (on your own) Mike Tyson’s then Run to Baseball Field as a team. Read clue # 3 only after your team arrives.

Maximus – Do 20 each (one your own) Donkey Kick’s then Run to the wooden bench amphitheater as a team. Read clue # 3 only after your team arrives.

Castor – Do 10 each arm (on your own) balls to the wall shoulder taps then Run to Softball Field as a team. Read clue # 3 only after your team arrives.

Pollux – Do 30 wall sit air presses then Run to Football Field as a team. Read clue # 3 only after your team arrives.

Clue # 3 – (Wooden benches).

If you are not at the wooden benches then you answered incorrectly. Please proceed to the wooden benches at the Amphitheatre.

Answer for Clue # 2: Beetle Juice (spelled Betelgeuse) is part of the Orion’s belt constellation. It is the Orange Star in the shoulder region. Castor and Pollux are from the movie Gone in 60 seconds. Both are the two brighter stars that make up the twins in the Gemini constellation. Maximus is not a star and is from the movie Gladiator.

Exercises at wooden bench amphitheater area: 1974 and 1983 were good years in NC State sports (Two Basketball National Championships). As a team do 83 dips on the wooden bench then bear crawl on the concrete to the picnic tables and do 74 step ups as a team. Once you are finished, proceed to clue # 4.

Clue # 4

Find the parking spot in the football stadium parking lot that equals the following formula:

200-50*0+80+(100-70)

Don’t look at Clue # 5 until you are in the parking spot.

Clue # 5 – Parking spot # 250

PEMDAS – Parenthesis first, then multiplication, then left to right addition & subtraction.

If you are not in parking spot 250, in cadence (4 count) do 25 side straddle hops and then 15 mountain climbers in cadence. Run to parking spot number 250 once done.

Once you are in parking spot # 250, do 40 LBC’s, 20 Heels to Heaven, 10 side crunches each side, and Protractor starting at 10 degrees, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and then 1.

Once you are finished, decide as a team if you want Door number 1, Door number 2, or Door number 3. Once you have made your decision, move onto Clue # 6. Choose wisely.

Clue # 6

Door Number 1: Partner Push towards the high school hill. Try to allow everyone at least two partner pushes before you modify and run. Go until you are gassed then switch out. Again, two pushes per person.

Door Number 2: Partner Pull towards the high school hill. Try to allow everyone at least two partner pulls before you modify and run. Go until you are gassed then switch out. Again, two pulls per person.

Door Number 3: Answer this riddle – name an object that you throw away when you need it and retrieve it when you don’t. If you can’t answer the riddle you must each do a partner push and a partner pull towards the high school hill. (each pax will both partner push and partner pull at least 1 time). The answer to the riddle can be found at clue # 7. If you answer correctly, simply run to the hill at the high school.

Clue # 7 – High School Hill

Answer to door number 3 riddle: A boat anchor.

Once you are at the high school hill, choose one of the songs below and add the digits of the famous phone number together to get a total number. For example, the phone number 123-4567 would equal 28. Get it right, do 1 hill run. Get it wrong or can’t come up with the phone number, do 5 hill runs each.

Tommy Tutone – Jenny

Wilson Pickett – (The phone number is the song tittle)

The answer can be found in Clue # 8. Once you have done the hill runs, proceed to the front of the middle school.

Clue # 8 – Middle School Benches

Answer:

Tommy Tutone – Jenny. 867-5309 = 38

Wilson Pickett – (The phone number is the song tittle). 634-5789 = 42

At the front of the Middle School, do the following exercises on your own.

60 foot release squats on the bench, 40 dips, and 20 Derkins.

Once you are finished, answer this last question in order to proceed to the finish line:

Having participated in countless Name-O-Rama’s, you have heard Fuse Box give his age several times….but were you paying attention? How old is Fuse Box?

Once you have an agreed upon answer from your team, turn to Clue # 9 to see if you are correct.

Clue # 9

Fuse Box is 34. If you answered correctly, as a team Jail Break back to the finish line (starting parking lot) for your final clue.

If you answered incorrectly, do 34 merkins each. If you finish early, start taking reps from your teammates to help them out. Once your team finishes, jail break to the finish line for your final clue.

Clue # 10

How many triangles are in the picture below? Answer correctly and you are done. Answer incorrectly and as a team, you must run to the rock pile at the bottom of the hill at the third light, do 40 curl presses each and run back to finish line.

Clue # 10 Answer

There are 27 triangles.

Easier Clue # 1

If you have reached this page, congrats…you read the directions. Instead of doing 250 merkins as a team, you only have to do 50 merkins as a team. Once completed, head towards Transporters Shed stopping at the light poles on the way to do as a team, 20 aussie burpees (no push up). That is a team count of 20 p

26 men gathered at the church for my VQ to be split with Gummy. As the Pax arrived from all directions it started getting real and I began to worry that Gummy wouldn’t show. Alas, he arrived exactly 4 minutes prior to launch with no shoes on – that was cool. As the tension mounted I remembered that Gummy had adequately prepared me for my VQ. He inspected my Weinke not 1 but 2 times and provided multiple rounds of commentary. With that in mind and my Weinke in my hand, the clock struck 7:00 and it was time to start the show. Disclaimers were disclaimed and off we went.

Warmup started as smooth as sandpaper as I totally forgot how to cadence count. It turns out Gummy was right as he tried to warn me that my stage fright would get the better of me. We managed to get this done:

Dropped our rocks like a bad habit and headed over to the hotbox for some more fun:

Partner up and P1 runs to home plate and back while P2 finds a picnic table for 20 step ups (10 each leg) and 20 dips. Switch and repeat. We planked up until everyone was in.

Then we moseyed to the ball field where we lined up “abreast” at the 3rd trash can. Sprint to last trash can, 10 count, and sprint back. We did this 4 more times. This was a crowd pleaser. [Editor’s note: that is sarcasm]

By now we’d worked up a good lather so it was time to get on our 6 for some Mary. Some Pax were not so happy to sit in the grass. We started hearing things like, “watch out for the ants”, and “can we do this in the parking lot instead”, and something about someone’s coccyx…however, the Pax persevered and we did:

Flutter X 15 IC
Dolly X 15 IC
LBC X 15 IC

We then moseyed “over yonder” to the grassy knoll for Jacob’s Ladder:

6 squats at top of hill and 1 burpee at bottom. Repeat until 1 squat at top and 6 burpees at bottom. Ouch.

This brought us to the half way point but I was having such a good time that Gummy gave me permission to continue, so we continued:

Over to the parking lot to find a partner. Demo was given showing how P1 was to plank while P2 did 10 Derkins using P1’s back. Then switch. You had to be there. Then we ran to the light pole where we did the same thing but this time old school sit ups were the exercise of choice. One more round of that and we planked and/or fluttered until Gummy took the keys.

[Begin Gummy-authored section]

We ran through the hotbox for a drink of water, then handed it off to Taffy (my 2.0) for a surprise guest Q. He led us over to the dreaded North Face for a Bermuda Triangle. 10 jump squats at the bottom, 10 each leg (excessive) Sister Mary Catherines at the top, 10 Monkey Humpers before going down the hill. Punk teenager.

I led us in a little recovery Mary, then over to the front rockpile for a poorly explained Catch Me If You Can. Even Taffy gave me crap on the way around. Whatever. We got it done, then headed back to the cars.

[End Gummy’s section]

Announcements:

FNG – welcome Stevie Wonder! Welcome to the fold. He’s Norseman’s son and went to the Citadel and recently left the Army as a Captain after 5 years. Thank you for your service! Keep coming back.

Gummy told us about a Brewery Run on 8/18 starting at noon at Sugar Creek. 6 breweries in 4 miles. Check out the slack channel for more information.

Runstopper reminded us about coffeeteria right after the workout at Starbucks down the street, then he also took us out in prayer.

Thank you for making my VQ so memorable! I did not expect 26 PAX. It was my honor to lead you men for the first 35 minutes. Thanks for all the prep, Gummy.

Head back down the Greenway, and back the way we came- stop one more time at Crestdale for some OYO work

Continue on Charles to Freemont to Main, back to launch in time to meet up with the Peak guys- total of 5 miles on the nose

FIN

Moleskine

Being my first experience at Sparta, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I came to find out that the name Sparta is fitting- these guys are lean, mean running machines!

The group stayed close together the entire time- Madison and Gypsy were of course out front the entire day, followed closely by Christmas.

Somewhere in the woods of Matthews Sportsplex heading towards Charlotte Eagles stadium, we seemed to lose Horsehead for a few minutes. He then emerged from the woods muttering something about the creepy old man in the woods- no one really wanted to press him further. We may never know what truly happened.

Arena was running strong, as well as Arsenal. When arriving at launch, Arsenal gave me all this hullabaloo about him being the anchor so to make sure and be careful and consider him with whatever we were doing.

Being the kind, considerate Q that I am, I changed absolutely nothing and he rocked it.

Honestly I was somewhat nervous of going this far out on my first Q on a route I had never run before- but these guys were more than up to the challenge and then some. I came away seriously impressed- you can tell they have been forged through the fires of running probably every hill that Matthews has to offer.

Much discussion was made about the fact that the 4 Mile Creek at the Sportsplex doesn’t connect to the 4 Mile Creek in downtown (I know right??) Neat to see the stadium in the morning as well- Horse Head gave us some F3 history in the fact that various PAX have tried to get a workout launched from the Sportsplex, but it never worked due to the gates being closed before hours. It would be an awesome location- lots great real estate.

Also- I kicked a toad on the run back. Super random, but it happened.

We actually got back to Renfrow Hardware a lot faster than I estimated (this crew beasted it)- so audibled to the Gumby Loop down Charles to add in some mileage which worked out perfectly.

The goal all along was to try and hit five miles- as we arrived back at the school we hit fix miles on the nose #stravadontlie

Not sure what happeend after that- I had to leave before COT to get to work. If there were any significant announcements, I’m sure Geraldo had them in his Peak Bblast, or post them below.

Thanks for letting me lead- it was an honor to run with you guys. This may have been my first visit to SPARTAAAA- but it won’t be my last.

“By yourself you’re unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.” (Message Translation)

Three pax gathered at Da Vinci for a fellowship-filled proper beatdown.

As Bugeater and YHC pulled into the CFA at Blakeney, we questioned whether or not we had the right day and time. YHC inwardly questioned his own faith. Perhaps the rapture had occurred and YHC wasn’t taken up in a glorious ascent. Seeing as the CFA (aka Christian fast-food) restaurant was fully staffed and Bug was still by my side, YHC reassured himself that his salvation was genuine and that YHC hadn’t missed the second coming. And behold an angel appeared before us….Stump Hugger emerging from his parked car to complete the biblically referenced “chord of three.” Disclaimer given and all three pax, befuddled at the size of the group but thankful for the low-key feel of it all, commenced the workout.

T-claps to Stump Hugger for showing up! Otherwise it may have been Bug and YHC moving straight into coffeeteria. Thus why brotherhood and accountability are so important. YHC was actually thankful for the smaller group and the mumble chatter that accompanied. Stump discussed his professional journey, evidenced by the fact that God’s never early, never late, but always on time. Bug and Stump recalled the days of old when they first began posting and rattled off a list of pax we haven’t seen in forever. Tiger Rag – you are missed, but not forgotten. YHC was happy to add the occasional comment and banter, but was mostly focused on how to audible all the “partner work” he’d come up w/ to adapt to a three pax group while simultaneously keeping his eye on the clock to make sure we paced ourselves well and that the group received a balanced beatdown. Thanks to Bug for the great takeout and for serving as YHC’s personal Uber on the regular. Great coffeeteria followed at CFA. The group was small, but the workout was meaningful. Indeed, a chord of three is not easily broken.

I arrive with a strong clown car of 4 from Briarcrest. Bottle Cap acknowledges the strong Briarcrest presence and starts getting worried. Up pulls Rubbermaid and Tupperware…numbers are back in Lawson’s favor and Bottle Cap breathes a sigh of relief.

As we are circled up waiting for everyone to arrive, Shop Dawg asks who’s on Q. I respond that its me and I get an odd reaction from him…..he was happy. I wasn’t sure whether to take that happiness as a sign that he enjoys my workouts, or a sign that he thinks I’m much easier than others and that he might have an easy workout in store today. Shop Dawg responded that he didn’t want to take another “flat bellies” workout again. Fair enough….6:30….time to bring some pain so that I’m not on the easy Q list (Big 10 approved).

WARM UP

Long run around the back of the school to the bench/rock area. Lots of mumble chatter on the way that there was a short cut. I wanted to start off with a long run as I knew there wouldn’t be much “running” today, but a lot of movement.

Circle up for disclaimer. Give disclaimer again as Shop Dawg comes limping in hacking up a lung. Apparently he did some presanding and forgot to wear a mast for today’s Sandbox pallet project.

30 Side Straddle Hops

20 T Merkins – I caught some grief on my cadence…apparently I was going too fast for some.

10 Potato Pickers

10 count quad stretch on your own each leg. There was some mumble chatter around this being the excercise that I allowed OYO counting.

THE THANG

Grab a rock and circle up.

Military Press – 10 count ladder with a hold (10, 9 and 1 hold, 8 and 2 hold, down to 1 and 9 hold). Rocks down and move to the right.

40’s Curls – no one got the joke…perhaps I didn’t ever give the punch line, but I thought 40’s curls would be enough for those to get the joke….it wasn’t…apparently this group prefers 12 oz instead of 40 oz curls. 10 Full Curls, rocks down and move to right. 10 bottom half curls, rocks down right. 10 top half curls, rocks down right. 10 full curls for a total of 40…..well we are so close to 50….lets do 10 more full curls. Rocks down & Partner Up.

Partner 1 Up & Over on the bench; Partner 2 triceps press. Repeat each exercise twice.

Mosey to rails for ladder supines. I asked everyone to listen for a special count. Apparently I skipped 8, but no one told me until we were at 4. That was not the special count. At 3, 2, and 1 hold the last rep for a 5 second hold. Pax joked about going back and doing 8, but I was worn out…lets move on.

Lunge walk the bridge and bear crawl to trash can….get to end of bridge…check that, bear craw to concrete pillon. 10 count to catch our breaths before a short mosey to the bleachers.

Partner up again at bleachers. 1 Partner runs bleacher while other partner does an exercise. Derkins, Dips, Step Ups, Right Leg 1 legged lunge, Left Leg 1 Legged Lunge. Repeat each excercise twice. 10 total times running the bleacher…..this one wore me out. Based on the faces of the pax, I don’t think I was the only one.

10 count to catch our breaths followed by a On Your Own count of 40 foot release squats. At 15 I yelled out a modify of 30, but Bottle Cap shamed me into completing the 40. I think most of the other pax did as well. Legs were burning pretty good at this point. Mosey back towards the school with a pit stop on the way for abs. 30 LBCs in cadence, 20 Heels to heaven, 8 each side side crunches. Mosey to side parking lot.

Partner up for Partner Pushes. Lots of groans. Not sure if its due to man touching or hating the pain this one puts you in. For me its a great way to get me out of breath in a short distance. Partner push to the speed bump, flap jack, then run around the loop and repeat for 2 rounds.

Partner Pulls to the end of the parking lot….10 second count and partner pulls again towards front of school. 10 second count.

Beat the Q back to front of school. For every person I beat, we all do that many burpees. Some got an early start. Bottle Cap channeled foundation and got in front of me and hit the breaks….much like a grandma driving in the left lane. Since some started early and I was slowed down by bottle cap, I decided to cut the corner to at least get 5 burpees in. I slowed down until I thought there were 5 behind me….nope there were 6. 6 Burpees on your own. Quick watch check thinking it was 7:30…nope 7:28. 25 LBC’s in cadence. Then Posse let Dolly’s while i grabbed my phone. 7:30 on the dot.

MOLE SKIN

Good work today. I was worn out at the end. Hopefully hard enough not to have Shop Dawg excited that I’m on Q again….but probably still not as hard as Half Back’s Q – or as Shop calls them….Flat Bellies (I love that term by the way).

Set out to get plenty of upper body rock work in which I believe we succeeded. I intended to get some legs in as well but not as much as it ended up being. Southern Belle said he hopes he can walk tomorrow….I’m in agreement….very leg heavy today.

Not very far distance wise, but we kept moving. I figured the Stadium round was going to be tough….and I was right.

Good seeing Snoop Dog out today. First time I’ve met him and I believe his first time being out in quite some time. I heard 4 years but wasn’t sure if that was an exaggeration or not. Good work today.

Southern Bolt killing it as usual. Need to get him a VQ soon. I think he may have some surprises in store for us and its always nice to get the 2.0’s some leadership experience.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Shop Dawg leading a sand box project today. Good luck to the fine folks that make it out there today to help.

I’ve got a special Q planned for Monday. Scavenger hunt that will require strength of mind and body. Come out for something a little different – yet still a good workout.

Febreze: stole this gem from Laronda, 1x world war situp then 5 arm presses while holding 6 inches then 2 sit-ups then 3 etc. wasn’t able to capture full effect of this one due to McGee and Spackler’s lovely mumble chatter.
Walk over to parking spaces and grab a line, scoot to the line to the right and do 1 merkin then back to the one you started and then do 2 and then back to right do 3… all the way to 10. YHC thought this would shut up the Mumblechatter but to no avail so took the long way around to 51 and entered Calvary’s 2nd entrance for the main event.

•Start at lot in front of hotbox and partner up
•P1 hairburn to 2nd lightpost and back while P2 did Merkins then flapjack. 2nd set was squats then 3rd LBCs. Mumblechatter started to die down a little bit…
•keep same partners and do catch me if you can with hairburners and get to the end of the lot and back. #soulcrusher
Mosey over to the hotbox for more parter work. P1 runs to far trash can while P2 does derkins, then flapjack. Then dips 2nd round step ups 3rd.
Mosey over to far lot near baseball fields for a crowd favorite cheddar shredder. Lots of modifying going on there. With Out of Ideas YHC took Purell’s excellent advice and deciding to do some rounds on the ye old Northface.
•do 10 merkins at bottom then run loop and complete 2 more sets of the same.
Mosey over to the launch lot and do some circle mary then done.

Moleskine:
•Glad to have both FNGs Swiffer & Rafiki who both pushed hard the whole workout
•Good to see sprocket who is a site FNG and new to area
•YHC rejoiced when McGee pulled in at 6:59 per usual so my 2 FNGs could experience that “McGee charm” which includes excessive Mumblechatter and perfectly G rated humor.
•Marlin on take out

Announcements
•YHC, Marlin, and Rafiki are all traveling to Kenya leaving today so prayers are appreciated